Prevalence of Toscana sandfly fever virus antibodies in neurological patients and control subjects in Sicily - PubMed (original) (raw)
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- PMID: 22707128
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Prevalence of Toscana sandfly fever virus antibodies in neurological patients and control subjects in Sicily
Claudia Colomba et al. New Microbiol. 2012 Apr.
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Abstract
Toscana sandfly fever virus (TOSV) is an arthropod-borne virus transmitted to humans by sandfly vectors. It has been associated with human cases of meningitis and meningo-encephalitis mainly occurring during the warm season. We performed a retrospective serological study to evaluate TOSV circulation in Palermo, Sicily, and to compare TOSV seroprevalence in patients with neurological symptoms and in a control group of patients without neurological symptoms. When sera from 155 patients with and without neurological symptoms were evaluated, the rate of overall TOSV IgG reactivity was 17.4%. Patients with neurological symptoms showed a higher percentage of TOSV IgG positivity than control patients (25% versus 10.8%). TOSV exposure was confirmed by virus neutralization tests which also detected a Naples virus (SFNV) infection. TOSV should be considered as an etiologic agent in the differential diagnosis of fever and meningo-encephalitis in Sicily.
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